Kenny Powar on the transition from Blue Interactive to Possible Worldwide

Possible Worldwide, launched last year, combined four of WPP's digital agencies across the world: Singapore-based Blue Interactive, New Delhi-based Quasar, New York-based Schedmatic and Cincinnati-based Bridge Worldwide.

The main advantage since the merger is the sharing of capabilities globally, which has enabled the agency to take on projects that it might not have been able to previously, Powar said.

“There is some power in scale,” he said. “When you look at business we have, we probably had around 150 people when we went into this and being able tap into 1,300 people makes a big difference.”

One way staff communicate globally is through an iPad app, which allows people to swap information, get support on projects and share updates about the industry, he said.

This has big advantages for global and local pitches, Powar added, allowing the agency to send work to where the right people are globally, rather than hiring in every single market. 

However, the agency has invested a lot of money hiring and training people in the analytics space, as effective interpretation of data is a key issue for the industry going forward.

The agency's investment in talent is a real point of differentiation as it allows for the application of a “much more scientific approach to marketing”, he said.

Ultimately however, the focus must be to find a balance between science and art when it comes to understanding data.

“People can produce reports and reams of charts, but what we have to find is key insights and nuggets that help to shape strategies,” he said. “Even when looking at the data you have to be a bit creative.”

The staff the agency has hired doesn’t necessarily have an industry background but instead has “bounced around at bit” from technology backgrounds to the client side to consulting, Powar said, adding that this gives the agency a different outlook and ensures that flexibility runs throughout its work.

"It’s in our DNA to be able to adapt," he said. "When I look at our competition, especially with traditional agencies, it is not what’s in their core. But for us, we have had to keep pretty nimble and we have been keen on maintaining that. Even as we scale, we still think like a small company… and not be complacent."